Selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM) are known additive manufacturing processes whereby a powdered feed material is melted and fused into a homogeneous mass by the application of an energy beam in a layer-by-layer process for forming a three dimensional object. These processes are useful for creating intricate shapes by melting small filler material particles (e.g. 20-100 microns) with a small diameter beam at focus (e.g. 50 microns) with precise computer controlled movement of the beam. However, these processes tend to be slow and expensive, and they produce only small grain sized equiaxed and polycrystalline microstructures. Moreover, they are limited to depositing material onto a top surface of a component where the component does not project above the processing plane, since the powder is typically applied to the processing plane by a wiper action which spreads the feed material across the processing plane. Accordingly, improved powder deposition processes are needed.